Impossible Difficulty in Gladius - Professor Orkimedes' Guide to Da Orks

This is a guide to navigating Impossible difficulty with one of the most fun factions...the Orks! This guide will help players beat the hardest difficulty by discussing Ork-specific strategy, builds, and fightin' for single player and co-operative play. And we'll reveal a couple of "super secret" strategies along the way!

Introduction

Orks are a wonderfully straightforward part of the otherwise twisty universe of Warhammer 40K. I bet you knew that they love fighting, drinking, shooting, and driving things really fast. But did you know that they’re the most mobile and technologic race in Gladius? Fortunately for us, we have a special guest to help us understand how this is possible…Professor Orkimedes himself.

“Orks ain’t as good at makin’ finky places as da beakies or da panzees or da tinboyz. But dey’z da best at finkin’ like orks, an’ dat’s all ya need.”—Professor Orkimedes

General Notes on Impossible Difficulty

Please refer to my General Impossible guide for non-faction specific advice on beating this difficulty. This guide will focus on strategy which is meant for the Orks specifically, particularly where it may contradict the general advice.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3000649357

(Yes, the guide is a little silly. But it was fun to think like an Ork!)

Faction Traits - What makes the Orks so fun?

The greenskins are one of the best races to play to win, but require a little more nuance than the Necrons or Space Marines. In particular, they have a couple of traits you’ll have to understand in order to make the best use of the Ork hordes.

Advantages

• Cheap and tough. Orks generally have a lot of health, and you can buy a lot of Boyz to flood the enemy.
  
• Healing. Orkoid fungus gives regeneration to most units, which means that healing in the field is a lot easier than with most factions.
  
• Inexpensive, useful heroes. All three Ork heroes are excellent at what they do…the towering Warboss, the healing Painboy, and the scientific Weirdboy. Even better, they aren’t expensive, so you can afford to field multiple heroes of each type to support your units.
  
• The best anti-air unit. Since the AI will be hitting you hard with air, the Ork Mek Gunz will shine; they are long range, high damage, and completely immobilize enemy air. And since they produce from the Mek Yard, they don’t compete with other ground unit production.
  
• Excellent high-level units. Squiggoths and Killburstas are a great pair of units to anchor your front lines. Both are exceptionally hard to kill, and Squiggoths can generate an astounding amount of influence every turn.
  
• Food, food, food. Food production can get as high as +80% with Orkoid fungus, which fixes yet another supply chain problem.
  
• Resources without buildings. Orks earn influence with every attack and ore with every kill. In keeping with the Ork philosophy, they benefit from constant fighting, and can salvage every kill, which eventually produces huge surpluses of both resources, which in turn contributes to your WAAAGH!! If that's not enough, weirdboyz give free research, and the influence surplus is easily turned into more reasearch!

"More enemies meanz more fightin,’ which means ya boyz is better at fightin’ den if dere woz less enemies. Bigger enemies means more gubbinz an’ a better WAAAGH! So if ya fight da biggest an’ most enemies, you’z gonna get da best WAAAGH! An’ it ain’t orky ta settle fer anyfing less." –Sorkrates, Philosopher

Disadvantages

• Low armor. Weapons designed to hit groups of soldiers devastate groups of Ork infantry. Stay out of the wire weed!
  
• Limited range. In keeping with the lore, Orks aren’t much in a ranged firefight.
  
• Every unit costs influence upkeep. It’s tough to avoid deficits…you need to keep attacking to build influence so you can afford those heroes. Low influence reduces WAAGH! which in turn makes it harder to kill enemies. Fortunately, high level units can generate 40-80 influence per turn with their attacks.
  
• Low morale. Ork infantry tend to have low morale, which, if broken, tends to make them useless in combat. These units then take even more damage, which perpetuates the cycle. Even worse, they are easy fodder for enslavers in the critical phases of the early game.

“When ya got da same amount of boyz but more of ‘em iz ‘ittin each uvver, den ya can’t have as many hittin’ da enemy. Dat’s science, dat is. Maybe maff, too.” – Professor Orkimedes

Getting Started

Co-operative Play

Orks pair well with almost any partner. Their extreme mobility means they can move big forces to assist anywhere on the map at any time; this makes them especially good for slow moving co-op players like the Adeptus Mechanicus or Sisters of Battle. These factions can even load heroes and infantry into Ork transports and go along for the ride!

You'll have so much influence, you can really support your allies. You can buy items and give them to your partner's heroes. It's most efficient just to use them, but they can always sell them and get a 50% transfer of influence.

Game Settings

We’ll use the settings mentioned in the general guide, with a couple of comments. Set Orkoid fungus to the highest level, for obvious reasons. Less intuitively, set Webway gates to maximum. Why, you ask? Attacking Webway gates is a great source of influence for your Boyz and Warboss in the early game. You can even “farm” them to a limited extent by letting them heal between attacks.

"Dunno what dem panzee circle fings do, but I loves shootin’ da pretty bitz off ‘em!" -- Warboss Nogginkruncher

Maximum neutral creeps will make sure your Orks are always fighting. Keep water levels to minimum, because Orks just aren’t good at navigating water.
"WOT? WOT’S ALL DIS BLUE STUFF? I AIN’T LEARNIN ‘OW TA SWIM! PACK UP, BOYS, WE’Z GOIN’ SOMEWHERE ELSE!" –Warboss Smashface

Extra Jokero camps mean that you can buy items reliably (and you’ll being doing this more than any other faction), and increased arctic and temperate terrain will assist with research and food production, respectively.

"Listen up gitz! Too many of ya iz gettin’ disintegrated, so I’z tellin’ ya again. Don’t go gettin’ fings from da orange monkey gitz ‘til ya got bitz ta trade. Turnin’ em upside-down an’ shakin ‘em ‘til da bitz fall out DON’T WORK!" –Meganob Deepfinka

This image (slightly modified from an excellent miniature uploaded to the 40K wiki by Montonius) is of a Jokero, who will be your close allies in this endeavor.

Starting city

"Everywun finks it’s easy ta get Thingummys and Wotsits, but dat ain’t so. Da best wunz is…uh…wot wos it da Dok said…locally sourced. Yeah. Ya get dat best in da elfy ruins where dere’s all kinds a fings ta play with, and where it’s nice an’ cold so fings don’t fall apart too fast so’s ya can poke ‘em more." –Big Mek Trukkscrappa

The ideal starting city is a little different for the Orks than for other races. While research is still important, food production is much more critical because you’ll have other sources for technology and influence. So, look for a Ruin of Vaul on a tropical tile with brush (or a river) to a maximize food and kick-start research together. Also, have a Jokero encampment somewhere nearby…it’s frustrating to have all that influence and nowhere to spend it!

Interesting tidbit here…when you build a city, it effectively “destroys” the city builder (the Mek). This triggers the temporary placement of Orkoid fungus. Thus, in three turns you’ll be producing less food on your city tile than you originally were. Fix this by building Orkoid fungus on the tile (it’s permanent when built).

Early Game

Early goals are to kick-start research and begin slurping up the influence. Because Ork heroes are so critical to your resource production, you’re aiming to have a hero out in the first twelve to fifteen turns, and a second city about turn 20. As you found your second city, you should already have an idea about where to place your third.

"Ya got ta start finkin’ from da very beginnin.’ If ya don’t teach ‘em good ‘abits, da boyz’ll ferget which end of da weapon is da safe end, an’ which is da dakka end. An’ after Boss Snogrok lost both ‘is ‘ands and ‘alf is ‘teef, da Doks say we can’t make shootas dat have both ends do dakka." –Professor Orkimedes

Build order

Generally, it’s safe to follow the build order suggested in the “General” strategy guide, but there’s a few tweaks, mainly in prioritizing hero production.
First, acquire the best research tile you can, and build the research building on it. (For most factions, having your research output equal to the turn number is “par.” As you’ll see, we’re going to try to eventually double that.)

For an even faster start: If your city is next to a Ruin of Vaul, then acquire the ruin, then acquire a tile next to it for the Kommando Kamp (the hero building). While this tile won't (usually) help the Kamp, it will help the Mek Yard, which is almost as good as a research building with the 20% boost you've already earned.

Next build the Hero building, and then a Warboss. Spend a turn building Orkoid fungus on your home square (to advance the storyline). After that, it’ll be a Mek Yard, and then a Mek to make the second city, then a research building (if you don't have one), and then a Doc to back the Warboss. Finally, you’ll start the endless cycle of city infrastructure.

Unit management

"Boyz iz stupid, dangerous, drunk, an’ rowdy—an’ dey got bad points, too. But ya can’t ‘ave a WAAAGH without ‘em." –Sorkrates, Philosopher.

You start with three Ork Boyz, and you’ll get another one just by following the storyline (which essentially means just playing the game.) Do *not* lose these units. If you need to save scum, then do it! Early mistakes will compound over time to substantially hurt your later game.

Keep the Boyz together. This will reduce morale penalties (they have a “Mob Rule” trait which encourages groups) and allow you to finish neutral units rather than just slivering them, which is incredibly frustrating (and you have to get the kill to get the ore). Do not go far from your city, so that you can retreat whenever you have to. Aim to capture about four to six nearby encampments, but there’s no need to overreach and risk your units...the gain ain’t worth the benefit. Don't worry; once the Boss is out, you can be a lot more adventurous.

Attack, but don’t destroy, nearby Webway gates. This provides a steady stream of influence because the gates will heal relatively quickly, and can be attacked again.

Technology

The first priority is the Mek Yard, so you can construct a second city. Then you’ll need all the infrastructure technology to help your cities expand. Decide if you’re going to focus more on infantry (i.e. you have a lot of food) or vehicles (you can access a lot of production). If you decide to build an early unit building (not required), you should choose a path: for infantry, aim for Flash Gitz, who are sturdier than anti-tank Orks and effective against Umbra and Psychneueins, which will stymie your boyz and heroes. For the vehicular route, get the Cult of Speed and then Megatrack Scrapjets, which are armed to the teeth and cheap to produce.

"Dere’s nuffin more important den some good dakka fer ya WAAAGH! But sometimes, ya got too many shootas an’ too many boomy fings an’ not enuff places ta put ‘em. Best fing is ta pack ya smartest boyz off wid a buncha gubbinz an’ tell ‘em ta do whatever dey want, an’ den dey either get zogged or dey build ya a new place ta put ya dakka—either way, da boyz get a good time." –Professor Orkimedes

Story Management

We're not trying to win via the story Campaign, so you'll need an "off-ramp." I usually pursue the story until I get to the point where you need to send a Weirdboy to locations on the map. This means you'll get only benefits and no distractions!

Hero Management (Early and Mid-Game)

Heroes are so uniquely important to Orks that they get their own section. Proper management will allow you to advance quickly and avoid getting stuck in endless building cycles to address shortages. Keep these guys alive because they are critical to your infrastructure, particularly when they have 400 influence worth of gear on them :)

General Tips for Heroes

Heroes really shine when they are kitted out properly from the Jokero encampment. If you're attacking with your Boyz and Warboss every chance you can, you'll notice influence piling up quickly. However, more is always better! I send each new hero to a Jokero encampment immediately to purchase a Tantalizing Icon. This eerie object will add 8 influence per turn, which will more than offset the maintenance of each hero, and will act as an investment to buy future items.

All heroes can be leveled using the Forbidden Knowledge item from the shop. This isn't efficient for most factions, but if you need a level 6 Weirdboy now, then use some of that huge pool of influence.

Warboss

The core of your early game, the Warboss should be a priority. He is tough and hits hard, and his attacks generate 12 influence each (that's the same as two influence buildings!). Not only that, at level 6 he gains the ability to augment his allies' influence gathering. Keep him on the front lines doing what he does best. I will often build a second Warboss before any other hero, just to fuel the machine even further.

From the Encampment, first buy the Icon. For my initial Boss, I usually add a Scroll of Magnus at the earliest opportunity. Because he is a melee champ, he benefits from the best attack items...buy the Mourning Blade, the Axe of Blind Fury, and the Dusk Blade (when you can afford them). The Adamantium Vest helps with his low armor, and the Zoat Jerkin boosts his healing. You only get six items, so you'll need to pass off the Scroll to a Dok or Weirdboy at your earliest convenience. He's now able to take on any neutral up to Kastellan robots with relative ease (except the flyers).

Dok

Although the Weirdboy is more uniquely useful in the later game, the Dok is far better in the early game. They are ridiculously cheap both to buy and maintain, and can carry Icons and Scrolls. They're not much in a fight, so next give them the defensive items (Jerkin and Vest) and a movement item (the Endurance Implant or Faolchu's Wing).
When Doks level up, prioritize healing so you can keep the Warboss in the fight. Later, the "Extra Bits" and "Cybork Implants" will become critically important to reduce the high cost of your armies...and Implants work on Squiggoths!

Weirdboy

The Teleport King! Outfit your Orky psykers like the Doks, except make sure you have a Dimensional Key. This is literally the "key" to rapid transport in the later game. You'll use your Jump to bring units to the front lines, and the Key to get back home again.
As you gain experience, always choose the research boost first. When it's fully leveled, this boost is as good as two buildings...when combined with the Scrolls, it's 18 research per turn! Don't let him die, or your technology will take a big hit.

Middle Game

Here is where the magic begins! Play it right, and you'll be nearly equal to the AI when you finally meet...the key to the strategy is Weirdboyz and Scrolls of Magnus.

[Lore note: Magnus the Red is a Primarch in charge of the Thousand Sons traitor legion. He is renowned for his physical and intellectual prowess, and was “rewarded” by Tzeench with ascension to Demon Prince status. His vast knowledge is partially collected in the Book of Magnus, which he authored prior to succumbing to the dark influence of the Changer of Ways. ]

By the time you’ve built your first Weirdboy, you’ve started to rapidly accumulate influence. Use your heroes as portable factories for influence, production, and research as outlined in the last section.

And this is the reason the Orks are the perfect pick for an Impossible win. They combine steady and large influence production, cheap heroes, and free research from those heroes. Because of their traits, they can essentially not bother building influence or research buildings, and they still end up with a rapid climb up the tech tree.

"OI! Get me more of da funny scrollz! I like ‘ow da words squiggle ‘round an’ ya can ‘ear ‘em whisper to ya. Never learned ta read, meself, so it’s real proppa of dis Magnus git ta make ‘em talk to ya. ‘Course, sometimes ya get an’ extra ‘ead. But dere’s nuffin wrong wid dat, is dere, ‘ead?" - Dok Crimpa (left head)

"Of course not, my lord—now, what else did you wish to know about Tzeentch?" - Dok Crimpa (right head)

Build order

You’ll have two cities, and should be planning for a third. Build the required infrastructure (loyalty buildings, population expansion buildings, and a second building constructor) in both cities, while turning out more heroes. You’ll be in a brief period of stagnation as your tech level rises and you research and build all these necessary infrastructure buildings. Keep your numbers positive!
Your unit production at this point should be mainly heroes, but I like to keep at least 4 boyz active, along with a couple of scrapjets and Meks to repair them.

With other factions I tend to build at least one of each of the intermediate strength units, but the Orks will research so quickly that I usually just acquire infrastructure upgrades until I get to the big stuff: Gorkanauts, Dakkajets, Kill Burstas, and Squiggoths. Once I'm in the upper third of the research tree, I'll replace slain Boyz with the much tougher Meganobz, who have at least a chance of surviving against the later AI onslaught.

"Biggest dakka is best dakka. Biggest stompas is best stompas. Biggest fings is most inspirational ta da boyz, an’ dey’ll build more for ya. Dat’s wisdom, dat is." –Professor Orkimedes

Strategic management

Expand your empire! Globally stay to the edges of the map to avoid meeting the AI too early, and clear any corners behind your cities so that you have some compounds adding to your economy even during the invasion. Tactically, lead with your Warboss to absorb overwatch and land his mighty melee blows, and follow with weaker units to kill slivered enemies or take unguarded compounds. Artifacts are like gold, and should be prioritized, particularly the Siren Caster. This little gem adds two loyalty in all cities, and thus makes expansion a lot less painful in the mid game (turn 40 or so).
When you have to choose, it’s usually better to finish a slivered (nearly dead) neutral unit, rather than damage a different unit. By destroying the unit, you’ll get an ore reward and get experience and morale.
It's perfectly acceptable to leave your Weirdboyz protected in your cities after they reach level 6; losing one can be a blow to your research and mobility.

"Sometimes da best fing ta do wid ya boyz is leave ‘em in da city talkin’ about ya an’ makin’ gubbinz while ya go off ta do da work yerself. Leadin’ a good proper WAAAGH is da best, ‘course, but sometimes ya ain’t got da bitz an’ ya need ta blow off some steam by krumpin’ a few of dose big metal boyz." - Warboss Smashface

Research is roughly twice the turn number, with only two research buildings constructed. The rest mostly comes from heroes and trinkets.

Also, note the surplus of influence, despite fully kitting five heroes.

Late Game

Eventually the dreaded moment arrives when you’ve found the enemy. Typically, you’ll spot a weak-looking scout unit and the introductory message will flash up. Tempting as it may be, don’t send your units haring off after the AI. Right behind that lone Necron warrior is a huge mass of enemy units ready to surround you, cut off your retreat, and destroy you.

Instead, pull back from the visible range. You now have two or three turns to begin consolidating and preparing for the huge wave of air units which is about to arrive. The T’au are probably the worst, with punishing overwatch, long-range attacks, and strong air units. If it’s the Tyranids, then you’re fighting on the best ground, because they rely mostly on short range melee and their air units can be held back effectively by Mek Gunz. None are easy, obviously.

Now’s the time for the second big Ork trick! The best mobility in the game!

"Now, if ya ain't an Ork, ya got ta fink real 'ard about how ya boyz is gettin where dey'z goin'. Ya got ta get from point A ta point B ta point...uh...doesn't matter. But Orkz iz best, 'coz we skip all da way ta point WAAAAGH!" – Professor Orkimedes

Teleport mobility

Weirdboyz can teleport to any visible tile, taking all surrounding units along for the ride. If these units are Gorkanauts, Battlewagons, or Squiggoths, they can be loaded with other units, potentially meaning that you can drop in an army of 12 or more units instantly. The next turn after the teleport, use that Dimensional Key to make the round trip and get himself out of danger, while preparing for the next shipment.

Freshly teleported units can't act, so bring them into a safe (ish) area. Remember that the target tiles need to be empty to bring units, or the ones that don't fit will be left behind.

Tactics - Stay together

Begin pushing your army forward, keeping them tightly grouped and retreating wounded units to be healed by Painboyz or Meks. Those initial Boyz and other light units are now relegated to the rear guard, but they should be busy expanding into unexplored areas and fighting neutrals to keep the influence and ore flowing.
[I've discussed more tactics in the "General" Impossible guide.]
Eventually, you’ll reach the first enemy city, which is remarkably vulnerable to being sacked by Squiggoths. After taking out the first one, the balance is tipped...you should be able to continue to your push to victory!

"Right, lads. Dis concludes Professor Orkimedes’ course on ‘Avin A Proppa WAAAGH! Graduation gubbinz an’ some roast squig is right outside."

Summary

A brief review of game priorities:

• Build your first city to focus on research and food.
  
• Research and build infrastructure, Mek Scrapyards, and hero buildings.
  
• Build a Warboss and Mek. Expand with your units to capture outposts, generate influence, and find a second city site.
  
• Build a second city focused on production, food, and/or energy, depending on shortages.
  
• Use the Professor’s strategy to rapidly ramp research…build Weirdboyz and Painboyz, and equip them with Scrolls of Magnus.
  
• Move up the tech tree focusing on infrastructure improvements, and then techs which improve influence and ore gain with kills. For units, research Mek Gunz and the three high-level Ork war machines (the Killbursta, Gorkanaut, and the mighty Squiggoth). Consider a third city as a forward outpost.
  
• Meet the enemy and do not engage initially.
  
• Use the second part of the Professor’s plan to consolidate your heavy units against the inevitable air assault, i.e. teleport new troops using Weirdboyz with Dimensional Keys.
  
• Advance to victory by rotating wounded units and moving steadily forward.

Quick tips

• Negative loyalty is twice as bad as positive loyalty is good (-2% versus +1% per point). Therefore, *stay out of negative loyalty situations.*
  
• Assume every forest and ruin is full of enemies until you’ve scouted it. Avoid overwatch traps!
  
• Attack with as many units as you can, as each hit generates influence. Do this even if the attacks are otherwise useless (e.g. the Warboss's ranged attack against a Webway gate.)
  
• Attack units you can destroy, because this will simultaneously raise your morale and lower theirs. For this reason, carefully consider the order of your attacks to maximize these advantages.
  
• Move rear-echelon units forward *before* landing the killing blow with a different unit. Any unit within three tiles will gain experience.
  
• Deffkoptas can, for some unknown reason, be stashed in other vehicles like infantry!
  
• The dimensional key (purchased from the Jokero traders) gives Weirdboyz two-way travel to transport units (including allies) from the back line.
  
• By packing units into transports (such as Battlewagons), Weirdboyz can effectively move a dozen or more units to any visible tile.
  
• Building a lot of good early-game units (such as heroes) is a good substitute for building a few mid-game units, and lets you focus research elsewhere.
  
• Even though later Ork war machines are amazingly strong, they should be deployed as combined arms. The AI is remarkably good at countering single-unit strategies.
  
• Jokero items can be moved between adjacent heroes (drag and drop.)

Other Guides

Want to expand beyond the Orks? Here's some other guides to try:


Or if you'd rather play with tanks:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3067031734

And if you're interested in Chaos Space Marines:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3051622207

Let's not forget the "Space Elves!"
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3343149132

[Doc]

Wow! Thank you. Enjoy the Orkyness!

[Snaky_Cake]

This guide is great!

[Doc]

Applemania,

Yes! This was my first guide, and I've refined the style since then. I have a couple of Gladius projects right now, but this is definitely on my list.

[Applemania]

Please make the guide similiar with the astra guide. Thank you

[Doc]

I'm honored!

[Doc]

Wow! :)

[Orkimedes]

I endorse this guide.

[Doc]

He's probably the universe's foremost expert in tellyportatin.' We're very honored that he was willing to contribute to our education!

[Reverendo Bizarro]

The fact that Orkimedes is an actual character in 40K canon is why DA ORKS are the best faction in 40K, bar none